The Bank of Canada is caught in a conundrum, trying to balance the impacts of trade uncertainty - and the threat of escalating tariffs - against a decent run of economic data, TDS' Head of Canadian and Global Rates Strategy Andrew Kelvin reports.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said late Thursday that a policy shift in the US was causing uncertainty and President Donald Trump's tariff threats were already impacting businesses and households, per Reuters.
The balance of growth and inflationary effects from US tariffs is of huge importance for FX, as this will determine the Bank of Canada’s policy reaction and potentially widen the USD-CAD rate gap even further, ING’s FX analysts Francesco Pesole and James Knightley note.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) delivers a widely expected 25 basis points rate cut, bringing interest rates down to 3.00% on Wednesday. This reduction in rates comes at a slower pace after back-to-back 50 basis points cuts.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) announced on Wednesday that it lowered the policy rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 3.25% following the December meeting. This decision came in line with the market expectation.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) aligned with market expectations by implementing a 50-basis-point interest rate cut at its Wednesday meeting, lowering the policy rate from 4.25% to 3.75%.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) is the nation's central bank. Its principal role, as defined in the Bank of Canada Act, is "to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada." The bank’s responsibilities are divided into four main areas:
The Bank of Canada (BoC) sets interest rates and manages monetary policy at eight scheduled meetings a year and ad hoc emergency meetings that are held as required. The BoC’s primary mandate is to maintain price stability, which means keeping inflation at between 1-3%. Its main tool for achieving this is by raising or lowering interest rates. Relatively high interest rates will usually result in a stronger Canadian Dollar (CAD) and vice versa. Other tools used include quantitative easing and tightening.
The official website, on X and YouTube
Tiff Macklem was born in Montréal, Quebec, in 1961. He was appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada, effective 3 June 2020, for a seven-year term. He is the tenth governor of the Bank of Canada. As Governor, he is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He currently chairs both, the BIS Audit Committee and the Consultative Council for the Americas.
Macklem on his BOC's profile and Wikipedia
The World Interest Rates Table reflects the current interest rates of the main countries around the world, set by their respective Central Banks. Rates typically reflect the health of individual economies, as in a perfect scenario, Central Banks tend to rise rates when the economy is growing and therefore instigate inflation.